My 2020 Savings Goals

I have a bunch of them because right now I have a lot of goals I'm looking to accomplish in the next few years.  Big goals that will require some funds to help make it all happen.  So I've set up a variety of savings goals to help me make those other goals a reality.  It is very exciting!

Emergency Fund = $5,000

I want a larger emergency fund simply because it makes me feel better.  I used to have a $3,000 fund, but with costs rising I felt it was time to up that a bit to give me some extra padding.  Right now I am working to get it back up to $3,000 to replace what was needed in 2019.  I'm almost there and once I've accomplished that I will move onto the new goal of $5,000.

Health Savings Account (HSA) = $8,000

New for me in 2020 is a HSA account.  I've never had one before and it was an option open to me this year as part of our employer provided healthcare coverage.  I investigated it in 2019 and decided it might be the better option for me and my family.  $8,000 is the maximum investment I can make right now, although that may change in the future, and fortunately I don't have to do it alone.  This year I will be contributing $50 per paycheck to this account and so is my employer.  By the time I retire and leave the company my goal will be to have this account fully funded as I will get to take it with me.  Having an extra $8,000 available for medical expenses when I retire will be a very good thing.

Employee 401 (k) Plan With Matching Funds = The Max!

I am very fortunate to have a 401(k) with employee matching at 4.5% if I contribute 6%.  As soon as I was eligible I began contributing 6% to my 401(k) so I didn't leave any employer money on the table.  I work hard so I wanted to make sure I got it all.  I contribute 10% of my income each payday to my 401(k) and have done well with it.  This year my children no longer qualify for the Child Tax Credit so I began bumping it up 1% each month.  This will lower my taxable income to compensate for that tax credit so I won't have a higher tax debt.  Not to mention it will be a big boost to my retirement income.  I will continue to do this until I reach the maximum I can contribute and let it ride until I retire.

Roth IRA = $7,000 Annually

I have a Roth IRA that hasn't seen much action from me in recent years.  The tax laws allow me to contribute a maximum of $7,000 per year to this account.  My goal is to contribute as much as I can to this account between now and my retirement account.  If I can swing the full $7,000 each year I will do that.

Savings Account

In the process of accomplishing all of these other goals I also plan to stuff my savings account with everything I have left over after bills and other expenses.  I will need to employ a lot of thrifty maneuvers to make sure there is something to stuff in there and I have quite a few ideas in mind.  Right now I am putting $100 per paycheck into this account.  No matter what.

Christmas Fund = $100

My Christmas Fund is my easiest goal to accomplish.  Each year from January through October I place a $10 bill inside an envelope to help me with gifts and other Christmas expenses so it doesn't become a hardship or affect our regular household budget.  We enjoy simple and modest Christmases so this fund works very well for me.

Travel Fund

I won't be starting this one until next year as I want to make sure I'm on track with my other savings goals first.  Then I will add this one.  I think this fund is going to be my most favorite goal to work on.  I can hardly wait!

I am super excited about these goals and equally as excited to work on them.  I know they seem pretty lofty and they are.  But completely doable too.  I know I can make this happen because if I do I get to retire early and have the life I've been dreaming about for a good long time.  That alone, is enough incentive for me to make this happen.  

Food Management - Waste Not Want Not

Simply put, wasting food is a waste of money.  I know I am in no position to toss fistfuls of cash into the garbage can so I do my best to use up what we have and not let things go to waste. 

Right now I am on a mission to keep my grocery spending tightly controlled. I operate off an extremely low budget of $150 a month with a few challenges thrown in every now and again to work with an even lower budget.  In January I had $100 and I did great with money left over.  This month I'm trying to do the same thing.  Part of that success is to not overbuy things that will spoil.

I feed three people.  Two that live here and one that lives away at college.  I contribute to her food at college and feed her whenever she comes home to visit.  I agreed to do that her first year out and we will re-evaluate that before next fall to see how that has worked and plan accordingly, but in the meantime I feed three people.

We eat a very clean diet for the most part which includes a lot of produce.  I buy my produce in season to save money.  Produce is my toughest food item to manage.  I don't want it to go to waste but we often will have more at one time then we will eat.  Fortunately we have chickens that help us out so the produce supplements their diet and we don't have as much waste.  Not overbuying in the first place helps a lot too.

Rotating pantry and freezer items is important as well.  Losing something in the freezer and finding it later on all freezer burnt is something I really try to avoid so I'm always rummaging through looking at what I have in there and then tailoring our meals accordingly.  If I find I have too much in my pantry or items I really don't like as much as I thought I would then I will bag them up and donate them to a food bank.  I got a really good deal on cereal once and then my girls decided they were tired of cold cereal and for some reason I had three containers of mustard and a new one in the refrigerator.  Weird combination to donate but the food bank was very happy to receive it.  At the end of the day it doesn't matter who ends up eating it as long as it doesn't end up in the landfill.

Home Management - Housekeeping

This is hands down the "department" I take the most pride in.  Keeping a neat and tidy home with the ultimate goal of always being company ready is very satisfying for me.  Knowing we have the right amount of stuff and that all of our items are properly stored and organized makes them easy to find and use.  It is a constant work in progress and it didn't happen overnight.  There has been a lot of trial and error and ultimately a lot of purging to lead me to where I am right now.  Finally I have a solid system in place and it works.  Really, really well.

I employ a 15 Minute Chores method to keep our home clean and as a result I am no longer a weekend slave to our house.  I no longer need to have marathon spring cleaning sessions.  And I am no longer overwhelmed by the task of housework.  I am much less stressed about my home in general or how I go about getting housework completed.  I've been doing this for a few years now and it works.

Before I ever heard about the Fly Lady I had set up a schedule of general tasks that needed to be completed on a daily basis and a weekly basis.  Daily chores such as making a bed, cleaning up the bathrooms, starting or folding a load of laundry take various amounts of time, mostly just a couple of minutes.  Weekly chores take about 15 minutes or less, sometime a little more, but not very often.  Then there are projects, such as purging a closet, reorganizing a space like the garage, or rearranging furniture that I plan for and schedule a certain amount of time to work on separately.

I love that our bathrooms are always clean

For my daily chores it has become a habit now of what I do and how I do it.  I'm in auto pilot and I pretty much do it without much thought and over time I've become quite quick at it.  My weekly chores are habitual as well, however I tend to rotate a lot of what I do each week to cover all my bases.  For instance, one week I may mop the dining room floor tile, the next I'll clean the chandelier, the following week I wash the window.  Every day I wiped down the table and any spills on the floor.  It's a process.

Not everything needs to be done every day or every week.  But by the end of the month there usually isn't much I haven't cleaned or tidied within my home.  By focusing my energy and time on a 15 minute block I can accomplish a lot.  And the nicest part about this process is if I miss a day due to illness or an over packed schedule I can get caught back up the next day or if I miss several days I just start over the next week and I'm caught back up.  I'm not even a slave to the process.

Welcome to our home

While my particular process may not work for everyone ,if you struggle with housekeeping it is a good place to start.  Check it out here if you are interested in giving it a try.

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

I hope everyone is doing well and remaining healthy through this COVID-19 event we are experiencing.  As long as we all remain calm and practice good common sense I think we'll be just fine.  I personally am not overly concerned for myself or my family, however I do have a lot of patients I work with that have respiratory issues.  My work with them is all by phone so my risk is minimal, but I do worry for them should things take a turn.  In the meantime I focus on the things I can control and just pray about the things I cannot.

I made French toast with almond milk and Keto bread
It was good!

Last Sunday morning I awoke to a lost hour due to Daylight Savings Time so what did I do to recoup that hour?  Jack and I stayed in bed and snuggled.  It was very nice too.  He is such a little sweetie.  I think he would have liked to stay in bed all day.

French toast made with Keto bread 

I kept meals super simple working off of ingredients we already had on hand, keeping it thrifty too.  We finished up the big bag of coleslaw mix I bought at Cash & Carry by browning up a pound of spicy sausage and making Egg Roll In A Bowl.  I used two large chicken breasts from our chest freezer to make garlic & herb marinated chicken (from a bottle of marinade in our refrigerator I want to use up) one evening and Buffalo Chicken on another.  I steamed some broccoli as a side dish.  I thinly sliced leftover sirloin steak to go with leftover salad.  We also had breakfast for dinner twice.

I had two ham bones in the freezer that I took out and made two batches of broth for soup.  The broth was strained, put into containers and then the freezer.  I am ready to make soup or beans!

Liquid gold

I saved rendered bacon fat and topped off the jar I keep in the refrigerator.  The fat will be used for cooking other meals.  I used rendered beef fat to make my chickens some suet cakes.  That will be Easter treats for them.  I cooked up some more bacon on Saturday and have now begun a new bacon fat jar as my other one is full.

Our Sunday dinner

Even though we were running low on produce the grocery ads were a little flat so there was nothing to really entice me to do much in the way of grocery shopping.  I decided to stock up on some grated cheese that was on sale and use a $1 OFF coupon for two bags of salad mix at Fred Meyer.  I stopped by after work on Friday to find that chaos had ensued the shelves were stripped bare.  It was the craziest thing I've ever encountered.  Fortunately the produce department was still well stocked so I was in luck, but for the meat department or shelf stable items forget about it.  And toilet paper?  Well, we all know how people have lost their minds over the toilet paper.  As I checked out the clerk was telling us that the most challenging customers had already been and gone in the morning.  Everyone since then had been nice, patient and understanding of the low inventory.

Suet cakes I made for our chickens

We decided to hole up all weekend and avoid the crowds.  I pulled a turkey breast from the freezer to prepare for the week ahead.  My daughter's college is closing down after spring break so she came home with a full carload of belongings in preparation of moving back home early and having online classes for the remainder of the semester.

Ham broth cooking in my slow cooker

I rinsed out a jug of laundry detergent and added the soapy water to a load of laundry before the empty jug ended up in the recycle bin.  I squeezed out every last drop of toothpaste from the tube before I tossed it.  I put a bottle of hand lotion upside down on my desk so I will be able to use it all up.

Because I have cats and they have noses I wash our windows a lot
They always have nose prints

Boy!  Did I ever make my fifteen minute increments count last week!  I was on top of it.  I even opened a few windows and let in some fresh air.  Some of the 15 Minute Chores I accomplished to keep my home in order:

Laundry Room & Half Bathroom - cleaned mirrors, vacuumed floors, washed rug, cobweb patrol.  Daily swish & swipe.

Dining Room - vacuumed floor, cleaned dining room window & windowsill, wiped down baseboard heater.

Kitchen -  vacuumed & spot mopped the floor, cleaned range hood & stove, bleached sink and countertops, wiped down ceiling trim, spot cleaned the walls.

Bedrooms & Main Bathroom - vacuumed & dusted, scrubbed sink & tub, cleaned mirror, cobweb patrol, cleaned ceiling heater/fan.  Daily swish & swipe.

Other - three loads of laundry, vacuumed & dusted living room, hallway & entry, wiped down baseboard heaters, polished wood furniture, cleaned glass bookshelf, cleaned mirror, cobweb patrol.  Swept front porch.

My favorite room in my house is my kitchen

How was your thrifty week?

A Second Income Stream

I'm a firm believer in secondary income streams.  Relying solely on your employer and the income generated from one job is risky.  Especially if you consider what might happen if you no longer had your job.  Several years ago I wrote about Cottage Industries and the value they have.  I still feel very strongly about that.  Right now I have a good job that I can work extra hours at and earn overtime.  I very much appreciate the extra income, but in no way do I expect that to last forever.  Right now I am utilizing that extra income with intention and purpose.  I don't want to squander my hard work and efforts.  However, I also know that at anytime I could be without a job.  Things happen.

The likelihood of me losing my job right now is pretty slim, but I'd be remiss if I didn't consider the possibility it could happen.  Not one to leave all of my eggs in one basket I have always felt better knowing I had a source of backup income.  Something part time that I enjoy doing and can do as I have the time and inclination.

Since 2004 I have sold items on eBay as a second income stream and I've done really well with it.  It started out as a way for me to earn extra income to pay for both daughter's adoption fees.  I used the money for our everyday expenses such as utilities, groceries, toiletries, pet food and other expenses.  This freed me up to be able to put money earned at my regular job toward their adoptions.  It amounted to a fair bit of money.  I did this for years after and when I burned out I took a break.

I specialized in selling Pyrex and Corelle having decided to work with a medium that I know and love.  I sold replacement pieces as well as hard to find pieces which garnered the best return on my investment.  I would hunt thrift stores and yard sales for my inventory.

Recently I decided to begin again.  Instead of the occasional sale here and there I wanted to be a more active and consistent seller.  I began selling some old eyewear inventory I have been storing in our garage and that is enough to keep me busy for a while.  We are going through the girl's things in their bedroom closet in the upstairs bedroom and selling some items from there as well.

A couple weeks ago I began selling Corelle and Corning Ware items as well as Pyrex again.  I have a good sized collection of my own and I may downsize some of it, but for now I am back in the mode of gathering inventory like I used to.  This time I'm focusing on smaller items that are easy to ship and don't take up a lot of space.  I'm not ready to give up a substantial portion of my home to inventory like I did last time.  I'm working on a much smaller scale at the moment.

I want to be careful of the time I spend on my business to make sure the money earned matches the time and money invested.  I'm keeping my expenses low and making sure I don't overspend time on this endeavor.  I do find this fun so I consider a large part of what I'm doing as entertainment.  If it isn't fun, what's the point?

In the past month I've earned enough on eBay after expenses to pay all of our utility bills from February as well as a tank of gas for my car.  Not a bad return in my opinion.  I estimated my time spent each week was right around eight to ten hours.  I don't want to go over that right now as I have a lot of other things going on and there is no need to burn myself out.

My plans right now are to put the money into my savings account to build up my emergency fund.  It took a hit last year and I need to replace the money used, but I also want to build it up higher.  Using the proceeds from my eBay sales will help me attain this goal much faster.

If you could benefit from a secondary income stream, and really who couldn't, then I strongly recommend building yourself a little cottage industry in your home.  Something you are good at and enjoy doing that could generate some extra cash.  Devote a parcel of time to work on your side business and see what happens.  You might be surprised at what you can do.

2020 Christmas Gift Idea #1 - Mug Gift Set

This little gift is one of my favorites and is super easy to put together and not expensive at all.  You can tailor it specifically to the recipient or make up a bunch to have on hand and ready for any gift giving occasion.  Part of the fun it is to come up with all the varieties of mug gifts.  My favorite part is finding the mugs.

I like to find my mugs at thrift stores and antique shops so I can make the gift that much more special.  Especially if I have a particular recipient in mind.  Then I can hunt down a mug that they would especially enjoy.  I have a co-worker that loves, loves, loves Christmas so I found this darling Ho, Ho, Ho mug and knew it was perfect for her.

Once I have found the mug it is a simple matter of deciding what to put inside.  I decided to do an assortment of teas.  Because I am a big tea drinker I didn't need to go any further than my tea cupboard to find a nice assortment of teas to pop inside the mug.

K cups for the coffee lover

Cellophane treat bags, like the ones you find at the Dollar Store, are perfect to wrap up a mug.  I tie them closed with curling ribbon and attach a homemade gift tag.  When I give mug gifts I also like to include a homemade goodie.  Some yummy cookies or fudge is always a nice treat to enjoy with a hot cup of tea or coffee.

Homemade chocolates

Other things you can add to a mug are K cups, cocoa packets, soup packets, spiced cider packets or mug cake mixes.  Pair some cocoa packets with mini marshmallows.  You can also make your own homemade mixes and put them in plastic bags.  By using your imagination you can easily come up with loads of different ideas.

Easy Keto Buffalo Chicken

I don't really have time to make buffalo style chicken wings, but I do find them quite delicious.  One way of enjoying something very similar is to simply cut up a boneless skinless chicken breast or two and saute it in olive oil.  

I season the chicken with salt and pepper and once it is cooked through I use some buffalo sauce I like that I buy at the dollar store to coat each piece.

Once all the pieces are adequately coated I remove the pan from the stove and serve the chicken with carrot and celery sticks and some blue cheese dressing.  Absolutely delicious and very keto friendly too.  

Not to mention how simple and quick it is to prepare.  How about that?!